Superintendent Dr. Julie Everly and the MPS School Board have made the decision to put a pause on the winter sports season this year as a result of a rise in the number of positive Coronavirus cases in local zip codes. After a successful fall sports season, which concluded with the state cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway, rising case numbers — more than 11,000 in Michigan per day and over 70 in Monroe County alone — forced the district to take a closer look and assess the situation going into winter (Monroe News).

“We looked at all of the data and hand-in-hand with the health department, considered what is happening in 48161 and 48162 [local zip codes], and what that looks like when you think about engaging in a sport like wrestling or basketball,” commented Superintendent Dr. Julie Everly.

Everly mentioned that while she and the rest of the school board were hoping that the Coronavirus case numbers in the local area would stabilize or decrease, with the way that the data currently looks all who were involved felt that putting a pause on winter sports was the only responsible thing to do.

Many winter sports athletes, such as senior Matthew Dull of the swim team, were disappointed by the decision.

“Swimming has been a fun and important part of my high school experience. With that being postponed and most possibly cancelled it feels like a void in my life,” Dull said.

Even with many athletes feeling disappointed by the postponement of winter sports, Athletic Director John Ray noted that athletes can still stay in shape while being required to stay at home.

“My recommendation is to stay home and stay safe. Every exercise has to have a warm-up, there’s got to be cardiovascular training, resistance training, flexibility moves, and a proper cool-down. You can learn about all these things online,” Ray said on a Lotus Leaf broadcast live interview.